%~anything and everything~%

kayak fishing

2010-09-14T17:23:00.002+08:00

dear readers,

its been a while since i updated my blog... i'll be writing a series of articles about kayak fishing, which happens to be my newest expansion in the fishing world. Further, one of the members of the kayak fishing community, Ian, landed several sailfish while on a trip in Rompin, from his kayak. I don't claim to be an expert or a pro, but hopefully the series will be able to help everyone who would like to start.

stay tuned!

2009-07-25T16:19:00.002+08:00

surface tricks are fun and look cool! especially the power slide... if only the spray was a little bigger... i've got a bruise on my left shoulder from falling while trying a half cab 180 (how did that happen?!!)... monday will be a better day =) cant wait, going with Daryl and Sam... gotta remember that the handle's like your girlfriend, dont let her go...

Quotes of the day

2009-06-09T12:57:00.000+08:00

I AM EMBARKING ON THE LONG JOURNEY OF REDEMPTION... ITS ONLY JUST THE BEGINING... *small voice replies* with the amount of sins you commit everyday, the journey will just get longer by the hour

Positive Thinking May Not Solve All Your Problems, But It Will Annoy People Enough To Make It Worth The Effort

If you can't impress the judges, just confuse them with your nonsense

bleh..!

2009-05-18T10:16:00.002+08:00

i've got 2 exams this afternoon and one tomorrow morning, but on the bright side, tomorrow is the last day of exams for me and i'm probably going sailing on wednesday and might break in the new HYDE radial sail XD... ahh... and perhaps shopping on thursday =)

ta for now!

2009-05-11T18:25:00.004+08:00

okay... as of thursday, economics and math will have the opportunity to be thrown out the window by yours truly. i really can't wait =) my new laser radial sail is here, it journeyed for a long time and has finally landed... -hear the sigh of a tired traveller- haha, i've already had econs P1 and 2, math P1 and 2... lets not go into the details, they were BAD, like REAL BAD... i can't wait for sailing to start again! it's been about 6 weeks since i've touched the boat and about 3 weeks since i've been in or near a gym... not good i tell you, not good.

anyway here's the to do list for after the exams
- WAKEBOARDING
- FISHING with the guys... oh.. and fly tying too =)
- learn to DRIVE A CAR
- Cardio and weight Training i feel like a lump of flab right now =(
- Hang out with friends you guys make my life colourful...
- Boat REPAIRS
- go Sailing (this is about as close as i can get to my boat colour i think)
- Spend my time WISELY (perhaps get a job/internship?)
last but not least, EAT CAKE or ICE CREAM :D man, this sweet tooth is going to be the death of me someday... haha...

A message for someone...

2009-04-25T21:38:00.001+08:00

hey, i'm glad you pushed yourself hard and did your best at nationals, its been nice sailing with you and i wonder if you'd continue. but anyhow i thought about you over the few days of competition even though you were not racing on 2 of the 4 days. Your best is all that anyone including yourself can ask of you. well done =)

2009-04-20T23:14:00.001+08:00

well well... nationals start tomorrow... good luck everyone! the laser fleet for both boys and girls looks deathly competitive! Hope my friends do well =) to her... i've missed u and still miss you... sail well people! =D can't wait to get back into my laser and change the lines... can't wait to jump back in the boat and start feeling good in it again... this season has been gybing mayhem for me... they just feel so jerky and bad... oh well! another thing to work on!

2009-04-11T09:32:00.001+08:00

haha... feeling very random... since my computer's died on me i thought i'd keep a record of my msn nick... which is
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠

i'm obviously going nuts =( oh well... new lappy after the exams... zap one off my family members for now :D whoohoo- what fun!

Sing Siam 2009

2009-04-06T16:47:00.012+08:00

yeah okay, i had a most eventful weekend at the sing siam regatta... my race results went something to the tune of 1, 9, 5, 2, 7, 2. the race course was a trapezoid course with an outer loop. I've got to admit, God really helped me... I really wouldn't have been able to finish in 3rd without him. I even saw a pair of indo pacific humpback dolphins on my way out to the race course. they were a pinkish greyish colour. i only saw the humpback, i didn't see the head or the tail.

Day 1,
Race 1: The wind was light, about 3-4 knots at the very most. i had a fair start, and was up in the top 5 having caught 2 major windshifts and was trailing in second by about 6 boat lengths once i went round the windward mark onto the reaching leg. i kept on chipping away at the lead that the Prasert had... behind me, Manat (ex thai national champion) was closing in on me... i kept my cool and made a concieted effort to close in on the leader, Prasert, and close in i did, as a result, Manas didn't manage to close the gap and overtake me... Prasert had a poor rounding at the bottom mark, allowing me to capitalize, coming into the mark wide and exiting as tight as i possibly could, putting me above the leader. However his boat speed was superior and he managed to hang onto his lead. I finally muscled my way into first about 6 boatlengths from the windward buoy but got tricked and the first leader slid cleanly around the mark before i could react. I took a gamble. i bore away and sailed into the current while the race leader went for speed and was heading down with the current. i sailed downwind in what little breeze there was and tried to keep clean air, i finally pulled up to Prasert about 8 boat lengths from the buoy. Being the inside boat, I was able to force my opponent wide, allowing me room to round the mark and head to the finish, while blocking his wind so i would not be overtaken. I won by about a boatlength. What a way to start the regatta! first international event in the laser, in my own boat, with a win!

Race 2: the wind picked up to about 12 knots and there was no way i could keep the boat flat and lost out a lot of positions on the up wind legs due to poor boat speed. i did what i could to maintain and catch up on the off wind but it was not to be. Manat won...

Race 3: i THOUGHT this was the ultimate comeback in fairly strong wind of about 10 knots... God was definately behind this one... i had a bad start, getting buried and rounding mark 1 in 11th, i managed to save 6 places in the second upwind leg to finish in a comfortable 6th. Manat won...

race 4: third time lucky? maybe for me it was... the wind had died down to about 4-6 knots, i had a very clean start and was out and clear from the fleet. i managed to block and hang onto my lead all the way to the top mark. i tried hard to close in on Manat... but i just couldnt... i finished day 1 sitting in second place. Manat was first... with three points having discarded his 3rd which was issued by myself and another thai sailor =). He sure is consistent!

Day 2, we had a late start because there was a cat1 which finished at 1:15. we FINALLY launched our boats at about 1.20-1.30pm. I knew these would be the make or break races, i got on the water focused on the conditions at hand, which looked to be really strong wind, about 12 to 15 knots, knowing i may finish not standing on the podium.

Race 5: the gun went when the wind was howling... i had an excellent start but again could not hang into my positions and dropped many on the first beat... i slid across the finish in 7th, feeling very dejected as the darkness of 4th position enveloped me... Thanks Andrew for the pep talk =) really needed it at that point in time... sorry Zeng... what i said was really harsh..! sorry dude... guess what... Manat won again...

Race 6: the wind was still flexing its muscles as i was dispairing... i got off to a good start but made a tactical error as well as being unable to find the speed i needed so badly to get clear. by the time i got to the top mark, I was lying in 12th but managed to cash in on someone's mistake of hitting the windward mark while going round and i hopped into 11th. The darkness of not getting that shiny little cup dawned on me. i honestly felt like it was all over but somehow wanted to keep trying... the wind died... what luck! Soon Chung and i rounded the leeward mark and began our second beat in about 2-3 knots of wind. i remembered what Andrew told me before the race started and i kept my centreboard as far down as possible by sitting on it. i headed for shore to make use of whatever wind there was and to minimize the effects of the strong current on my boatspeed. the rest of the fleet had headed towards the middle of the course and into deeper water with stronger current. I tried so hard to catch Manat, something told me not to give up, to keep going, to persevere... the results you may ask? I managed to put Manat within striking distance a few times but was unable to wrestle 1st place from him as he after all, was the ex Thai National Champion, who obviously had quite a few defensive moves up his sleeve. His estimation and boat speed were excellent and by the time i got to the windward mark, he was about 1/4 way down towards the bottom mark and the finishing mark. Soon Chung who was trying to catch me all the way to the windward mark rounded shortly after i did and the chase was on! we were unsucessful catching Manat, but we had each gained something to the tune of 9 places. putting us from an 11-12 finish to a 2-3 finish! God was kind and gracious to give me the 9 places i needed badly. I was worried that i'd lost my position after i crossed the finish line but looking behind me, Prasert had not even reached the windward mark and my heart skipped a beat, what if he gained some positions and finished 3rd? he did beat me in my previous race and i was leading by a mere 3 points... I stopped worrying having realised there was nothing I could do having already finished the race with a good position.

Back to shore we sailed, really, really slowly... i shook hands with Manat and Prasert, congratulated them on their good sailing, and we chatted about the races we'd gone through. Having high fived Andrew, we did a quick countback and he'd beaten me to second place by a single point, scoring 16 points to my 17. I was fine with that but i felt a small part of me tug my heart and say could you have squeezed another position out of any of the other races? I thought about it and I concluded the answer was No. It would have been difficult, if not impossible. Personally i was wondered if we would both medal this time. However i know for a fact God was there with me through the thick and thin, and rollercoaster of feelings. Zeng was very upset having dropped from 1st to 6th in the last race which according to him cost him a medal, i'm not very sure about that because like me, he had had an inconsistent series of races on day 1. I went to check the results after hosing my boat down and allowing the sail to dry. When i saw the results, i was blown away! BOTH ANDREW AND I HAD MEDALED IN THE SING SIAM REGATTA 2009!!! DESIPTE OUR SHORTCOMINGS, WE BOTH WERE GOING TO RECIEVE MEDALS! SHEER PLEASURE!

2ND ANDREW LEE TIAN SEONG !
3RD TAN AN REN 3rd!

WOW!!! all i could do was scream "YES YESS YESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and high five Drew, who then proceeded to look at the results, copy my reaction by screaming "YESSSSSSSS" and do his "victory dance" which got me laughing real hard! We both had sailed hard during the regatta and God allowed us the priviledge to be up there. only 2nd to the ex national champion... what a feeling! Zeng who was out in the boat yard apparently was able to hear the screams of jubilation...

During the Prize presentation, i picked up my prize for finishing 3rd in the laser standard class, and as i was walking out of the room, my name was called because unknowingly i had won the 3rd prize in the laser open class. Talk about having a double portion. Having 2 prizes on my first medal occation of an event above club level... this was beyond my wildest dreams and i know who i can attribute it to... I am thankful. i really really am =) I thank my parents, coaches and friends for believing in me, for always pushing me on and giving me opportunities. Celebrations after the exams anyone? =P i know who i'll be eating Cake with... =) on reflection, this regatta has shown me what i am good at, what needs a lot of work, which boat i should be sailing and last but not least, to never ever give up hope, to keep your wits about you and to do what you think is the correct thing, and not to follow the crowd.

Special thanks goes out to the following people (in NO order of importance)
Alicia for snapping a photo of me at the prize presentation- it was good to see you again!
Uncle Tony for coaching me all these years and pushing me hard so i'd learn fast in the laser
Ramli for all those hours at the gym and helping me get fitter even tho some days were awful and some were good sessions!
Valencia, Ananda and Zing (Zeng) for pushing me in training and keeping my head level and small
Jeryl Ong for encouragement and good humour at training!
Andrew Lee for encouragement, pushing me hard and cheering in race 1 at mark 1... haha... and helping me take my mast down and folding my sail on both saturday and sunday
The uncles at one stop who helped us launch and recover boats, especially the uncle who helped me pull up my boat on sunday when i couldnt do it by myself

Till we meet again, my friends... take care and keep safe =)

2009-03-30T14:11:00.002+08:00

ah... it's less than a week to my last Race till i take a break for the exams... Exams aren't far away either, they start in early may (7th) and end on the 19th... I'm still revising... i think i'll do OK, its make or break time now. All i can say is that, till then, its nose to the grindstone and when all is said and done, its time to enjoy. Hopping back into the laser radial would be high on the priority list, hopefully the wind will be nice and strong. its such a wonderfully easy boat to sail, sailing it quickly is something else.

The 2009 Sing Siam regatta is this weekend. i haven't read the sailing instructions but i suspect it will be a trapezoid course with an outer loop. i'm hoping there will be either less than 10 knots of wind if i am sailing the standard rig laser, or about 12 knots or more if i'm in the radial. The last time i sailed in this regatta was 2 years ago and i wouldn't say that my results were anything to shout about. Then again my race results aren't ever a talking point. i am however looking forward to racing against Ananda and Zeng... if i was in their position, i'd be thinking of this race as practice for nationals which are at the end of the month. i do wish them all the best! nationals does carry many fond memories and some very spectacular racing. it is "the regatta" of the year for many schools. there will be various new teams such as CJC and YJC, RJC has even purchased new boats! I cant help but wonder how ACS (I) will perform. All the teams this year are strong.

which colour!

2009-03-28T10:14:00.003+08:00

i'm getting a new fishing rod... the options are as follows, red binding with yellow trim, yellow binding with blue trim (against this i have a rod with blue binding and yellow trim), grey with a yellow trim and finally orange with a blue trim... the picture red binding with yellow trim is on the way... well of course the last option is to have black binding with a silver trim =) of course if you dont like any of the following colours, suggest one as a comment or tag :p haha... enjoy!

2009-03-24T23:09:00.009+08:00

well... since lately i've been talking about sailing loads and did go sailing saturday, where there was a huge storm and we tied our boats to a buoy and were driven back to shore really quick via power boat as lighning flashed all over gloom that shrouded us... anyway we hung out at NSC for about 30-45 minutes before Clayton, Coach Hu and I zoomed back out to sea to drop C and I off to untangle our boats which were being tossed around like corks in a blender by the big waves and the storm. the lightning had stopped but there was an odd flash or 2 every once in a long while... we finally untangled everything after some tense minutes, probably after 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour? and not to mention lots of yelling, and bobbing up and down... we finally were towed to SAFYC Changi and arrived at about 1930... on the way back i was treated to a beautiful rainbow and an equally beautiful sunset! through the remaining clouds too! it was very cold and as we pulled into the dock i was shivering, and extremely late for dinner with my extended family... However, i cleaned up really quickly and Amanda Tang's dad very graciously gave me and my sailing gear a ride to Thompson plaza. thank you so so much =)

here's an entry about all the sailing coaches i've ever had...

i started sailing when i was about... 9 or 10... so here we go... in chronological order when i first started, uncle Jacob taught us... for about 6 months before Francis Huang took over and he coached me till the end of the year... when i was 11, acs pri sailing was moved to NSC which was new at the time. Uncle Foo Say Juan and Hu Jiao Lian coached us... we won the championship that year and of course had trained very very hard in all sorts of wind conditions, we were also quite strong as a team... it consisted of myself, Lei Fengyi, Jackson Ho, Russell Koh, Gabriel Koh, and i think that's all...

I moved to SAFYC, sembawang and Uncle BaBa coached me, i remember countless pushups, mast rake adjustment, and many subtle details and my world of optimist racing was opened up! Sadly, i was never a particularly strong sailor in the optimist, however i remember having a magical day of racing on the second day of racing at the interschool when i was going to turn 12.

in secondary one... i hopped into the topper quite gladly (OH YES! finally i could sail a BIGGER boat), and i sailed under Andrew Tam at SAFYC Sembawang, with the naval base secondary school as well as CHJI (Toa Payoh) and a few other sailors from all over. Changi wasn't in existence at the time... that went for secondary one... and two.... somewhere along the line i switched into the byte which was a welcome change. I simply just HAD TO TRY ONE, there was this longing feeling to get into one, especially after hearing so much about it, and being quite envious of my brother as Dad bought him one... which is now being sailed by my friend, Isaac Foo... i sailed the byte until i was secondary 4 at ACS (Int) and got quite good at it, the most spectacular race i ever had was when i was in 11th and racing towards the finishing line on the reach when a freak storm hit, capsizing many other boats in front of me and i managed to slide across the line in 3rd... i did win a few prizes at the in house race... as well as hopping into the byte, i also started training under Uncle Tony at the weekend. He was very strict about sitting position, tactics and boatspeed which to my mind are fundamental to winning. One cannot have good boatspeed without good sitting position, which controls boat balance, and without boatspeed one cannot execute tactical plans. anyway, that's how i started working hard at my off wind because i was way too light in upper secondary to be compeititve going up wind.

in Pre U, again, i switched boat to the laser... initially i hopped into the laser radial and it was really difficult, especially because the north east monsoon was throwing its weight around with strong winds. i somehow managed not to finish last in my first 3 regattas... in fact i beat a few people! however this made me decide to bulk up and gain some weight, so i gained about 12kg putting me under the optimum weight but it would have to suffice for nationals, where my best race was 9th (2007 nationals) and last year, my best race was 4th... i started at the commitee boat, threw a tack shortly after crossing the start line, tacked back to catch a lift and i was way in front with the other 2 who were leading... that was really cool! it probably matches my best national regatta position that i had in the byte. Admittedly, i'm having a whole lot more fun in the laser than i ever dreamed of having. =) well not to mention i've had a really good coachs since i started sailing, who'd push me, tell me what im doing wrong and get me to try new stuff to help me improve my sailing, and of course encourage me so that i wouldnt give up... mind you, i nearly walked away from sailing more than once... but i stuck with it and persevered...

2009-03-15T09:07:00.001+08:00

i sailed yesterday... i sailed, inconsistently, i think the change in season has brought up what i had not realised previously, that i'm not quick in light air, and i question my own tactics too much. i question why, but get no answers, perhaps i lack confidence? perhaps i am a child, set in front of a sheet of paper with numbered dots to form a picture, i just dont seem to be joining the dots with the pencil that i'm holding, or, im joining the dots in the wrong order. fancy thinking of tactics coming downwind but doing the exact opposite having rounded the bottom mark. Valencia was in top form and is really quick in the light air, i on the other hand have been sailing in heavy air. well at least im on the water on saturday so i can work on speed and other things that need work such as boat handling... on the bright side, MJC has new sailors so hopefully i get pushed more so i will be able to improve. Wen's agreed to come sailing on saturday so that will be quite fun i hope... ahh... light wind work has to be done, as well as loosing weight in preparation for the sing siam regatta, i doubt the wind will be strong like in previous years, then again it was light wind at last regatta in Singapore. Just dont capsize (: i wonder who else from the squad will be racing a radial...

thinking back, the first SSR i raced a laser in, was when i was fresh out of the byte. sailing's fun even though its frustrating at times =) note to self: get a Ronstan ballbearing microblock for the outhaul and a new, thinner and longer outhaul line... Gym tmr and running on tuesday... im determined to loose whatever excess fat i have! haha... fat = dead weight, muscle = power & works for you...

2009-03-12T21:34:00.002+08:00

May exams are coming... i think i'm going to be ready, i've started studying, i am still studying and learning, its quite stressful thinking about exams... if only we had more hours in the day. on the bright side, i've started using my diary and my time management has improved i think (: exams exams exams... well, its part and parcel of school and i like school... haha... cant wait for the weekend, im going sailing (:

a random thought about love...

2009-02-16T14:09:00.001+08:00

Valentine's has just gone by a few days ago and i've been thinking lately, especially since i found, opened and read the card that someone gave to me for Valentine's 08. This card is special, the tone is was one of warmth and love, which now probably doesn't exist anymore, even then i can still remember that the same voice, name and face when i think about it, I've kept the card back in my drawer instead of throwing it out. However, complaining about lost friendships isn't the purpose of this post even though the hurt may still remain. Ironically, the song that's on my itunes playing is Tattoo by Jordin Sparks...

I concluded a few years back that love existed in many forms but the long short of it would be, loving someone is the choice to care and to set aside their inperfections and see the person for who they are on the sunny side of their personality. Breakups seem to be becoming quite common, furthermore, a family friend is probably going to get a divorce... Since the basis of love is caring about someone, in all friendly relationships there is love, from friendships, to husbands and wives, to immediate and extended families, to the point that the beloved my be even "spoilt". but that really is something else. it is because of "love" that someone can hurt you. This sounds strange but even in hate, there is still love. simply because one feels angered by another party's actions, furthermore, you still care about them, perhaps more than when you loved them, so their actions can hurt you, quite badly. I am reminded of this when someone i know "freaked out" when he heard his ex girlfriend had gotten with someone new. When a person is indifferent, this is when all love, and care has evaporated, therefore, whatever happens to the other party, or whatever he or she does, does not affect you anymore.

Once the point of indifference has been reached, reconciliating the relationship will be most difficult, if not impossible. my thought to this would be, cherish loved ones while they are still around, be it friends or family because one never knows if tomorrow the relationship will turn sour. Unlike milk, friendships do not have a an expiry date printed at the top of the carton or at the base of the bottle. However, i do wish that friendships would last forever, and believe that they can. Love while you can because you "can't" when they're physically gone. Can't meaning they aren't there for you to love.

To finish i will quote a primary school friend... With love comes hurt, if there was no love, there is no hurt; they come together, hand in hand.

being critical...

2009-02-15T13:53:00.005+08:00

well, at the start of this month i won the in house race for the 2nd time in straight races... this time i cut it a lot closer than the last time but the conditions were very different... anyway... i trained yesterday and admittedly, i sailed horribly, it seemed to me that my boat was sort of stalling and felt underpowered yet i was still fighting to keep it flat while beating up to the first mark, yes there were waves and i tried to manage them but its been a while since i've sailed with such used to such steep waves on the course. It almost seemed impossible, furthermore the boat didn't seem to have that flow over the waves which other sailors have. I was sailing a radial and the wind wasn't terribly strong, maybe up to 12 knots towards the end of the day? perhaps i wasn't keying in on my sail settings quickly because i had just swapped all my lines end for end so that they wear out evenly.

I need serious help with my mark rounding technique and upwind sailing in choppy water, with strong current and medium wind. i want to feel the boat flowing or at least feel that I'm sailing quickly up wind... i think I'm so critical about my mark rounding especially at the leeward mark having watched some videos of Olympic sailors and watched some of the top sailors in Singapore sheeting in non stop as if its really easy, i know its going to be hard work, and countless sets of concentration curls but I'm ready for it, i think... and if there's a will, there's a way. well, at least I've got targets and having not sailed in choppy conditions, i conclude I'm out of rhythm... i think more reading and water time will help. anyway, Uncle Tony's been pushing me in the right directions and teaching me to protect my position after coming round the leeward mark while leading... i wonder why he's been doing this... its not as if I'm always first round the buoys... oh well... I'll just keep training... ah, routine's going to be studying, gym, church and sailing... I'm looking forward to the sailing season proper (:

to end on a super happy note, besides swapping all my lines end for end, I've got myself a new main sheet... its ORANGE... and white... haha! its 7mm and measures 15 meters long, this gives me lots of line to play about with when i'm going off-wind, allows me to attach the tail to the end of the toestrap so it doesnt tangle, runs through the blocks really nicely and is extremely light so the sail is able to move out quickly. however, there's only 1 downside, its not the most abrasion resistant line in the world, after sailing yesterday the bit hairy at the parts which experience the most abrasion on the ratchet block and at the tail end at the end boom block. but still, its a lovely piece of work... anyway, happy sailing !

sailing...

2009-02-05T22:52:00.000+08:00

i've got a shirt from global culture... it says "sailing; Obsession; the act of getting really cold, really wet, going nowhere really fast and spending really large amounts of money" i do agree with the above especially since its the time of the year that i'm checking my boat. I've found i need a new universal joint on my acme fatso jr tiller, and probably a new 7mm mainsheet because this season, the 6mm has been making mincemeat out of my fingers and causing quite a lot of discomfort while sailing up wind in heavy air... well... i guess these are things that have to be done... but i'm happy, i'm sailing well this year, and am not doing too badly... (i just won the febuary in house race laser open class last weekend- haha) i'm looking forward to the weekend because i'm going sailing again... anyway a note from myself to myself: GET A NEW UNIVERSAL JOINT AND THE FUDGING MAINSHEET (14.5m)!

2009-02-01T22:15:00.000+08:00

the card's still there and dad admired it the other day... well you probably know it but i enjoyed seeing you at CNY (: and no, i dont have a crush on you... haha!

2009-01-05T16:44:00.003+08:00

since i havent posted a fish in a long time... this one's an Earth eater... caught on the last trip before the IB exams in i think it was september of 2007.

2009-01-01T00:37:00.001+08:00

i missed you so much so i put the card you sent me on my desk so that everytime i looked at it, i'd think of you and see an image of you in my mind that was as fresh as the dew on the grass this morning when i woke up and stepped out into the cool, fresh air... =)

2008-12-13T23:53:00.000+08:00

Hello readers of my very wordy holiday journal, I went fishing with Ron Stewart today, phone +64-03-442-9966. I think he is a very good guide with a reasonable rate 650 per day… but that said, price isn’t everything… anyway, I think he is a patient guide, who produces many opportunities, a bit like bonefish on Christmas island, there are so many shots, if you stuff up the first few, its okay, there will be more coming. Whatever it is, we were fishing for brown trout… in the morning light, we sighted and cast to about 20 browns, ranging from 3-6lbs but had multiple refusals do the dry fly but the nymph had many lookers but no one seemed to commit as we worked our way along… maybe our nymphs were not juicy enough…

At around 12:15, Ron announced, “no fish, no lunch”. Shortly after Ron yelled SET!! And a fish was on! She had gently sipped the green beetle fly off the surface… she went 4lbs! I was over the moon to have landed my first kiwi trout, a brown, on a dry fly… these browns were not easy to see, and I found it difficult to get the fish to eat the fly too… to be brutally honest, my concentration wavered… anyway, I hooked my second brown trout a few casts later, again on the same beetle fly and a 3lbs tippet… this time, it was a much bigger fish of about 6lbs… it gave me various hair raising moments when it made a run with the current flow and took me down till I had a few wraps of olive green airflow chalkstream platinum fly line left on my reel… well at this point I managed to stop the fish’s run. Ron grabbed the back of my vest and walked me backwards to another area to play the fish in lesser current having hooked the fish right in the middle of the river. The hair-raising moments, walking backwards and the bent rod were far from over, as I pulled the fish towards me via the reel he tried a dive. Immediately I tip toed and stretched out pushing the rod as high as I possibly could to try and coax the fish out of the sanctuary, which it was heading towards, after all he had the advantage of being in his own domain. Well, 40 feet of line taken in, and two attempted dives into the weeds and I had this big trout circling the edges of the weeds, thrashing around and avoiding Ron’s net… eventually he was tired and slid into the net. It was huge!!! I thought this long skinny brown trout wouldn’t fit into Ron’s net, but it did… we estimated it would weigh about 6-7 pounds and was labeled an “average sized fish”… this statement made me wonder how big would a big fish be, which apparently is somewhere between 8-12lbs. Minutes later, I stupidly missed yet another “normal” brownie when I set the hook too slowly, giving the fish time to spit the fly out and when I did set, the beetle was ripped up from mid-water (having just been spat out by the trout) and flew right at me like a missile… not the nicest experience while trout fishing. I yet missed another consecutively when I set too fast, whipping the fly out of his/her mouth. We saw many other trout in the backcountry, we… actually Ron spotted and I tried tempting a big [10-12lbs brown] for over 45 minutes with various flies, hoppers, beetles, green humpy, yellow humpy, caddis, Royal Wulff, PTN, PTN variant, had a look at the PTN and PTN variant, finally spooked when nymph drifted down with weed caught on hook point. Well, it was not to be, I had no other luck with various other smaller trout around 5lbs although I had some follows but no other solid takes.
Weather was cool in the morning with southerly wind until 3pm then a stiff breeze started whipping over us while tempting the big browns… so we had to give up fishing and start heading back. While wading back and fishing, I had a nice light coloured brown trout that trundled along, saw the nymph, and followed it all the way to my rod tip but didn’t’ commit by trundling a little faster and eating the fly. I estimate it to be about 5lbs. Ron is an exceptional guide who carries many flies and has a plan B in case all goes wrong. Well I’ll say it again for impact in case I haven’t said it before. I fished a light, light leader of 3.5lbs throughout the day…

I’ve decided and conclude that wild trout live in some of the most beautiful places on earth
Its great fishing in NZ, no bears to worry about… however, a "short " 12 feet+ of leader with a pair of nymphs isn’t the combination easiest to cast, especially into a stiff breeze- which gets real strong… i think i will need to re learn how to cast in order to become a better and more consistent caster… sadly, I wasn’t casting in top form all throughout the trip, and need to be able to place the fly faster and more accurately. We had dinner at Solera [hope I spelt that right] which was real nice, but I preferred the hotel food… solera was nicely cooked and flavoursome but the hotel food was better!
Mum & dad went to Paradise and came back… not sure where else they went while I was fishing but when I came back, they had been slacking at the hotel for a bit…

2008-12-12T12:02:00.000+08:00

Today Dad, Mum and I flew from Auckland to Queenstown… the flight was epic! The scenery flying between the mountains and descending to Queenstown airport was phenomenal! I saw many glacial rivers and a lake or two… it was exciting! I wish I had my camera out! My only complaint was that the flight was totally packed out and I was sitting with 2 rather large people and that left me little breathing space… well it was a domestic flight so it wasn’t that bad! Happy birthday Jasmine Yap!! Hope you’ve had a good one!

Queenstown is a very scenic town, its set on the banks of this beautiful lake with clear blue water, guarded by mountains all round. The sky was blue when we landed, and the wind was strong and cold, I later learned that it blows up from Antartica, which explains the coldness. The scenery was lovely at the airport but it got even better as we arrived in central Queenstown and drove up to the heritage, where we were going to stay. The wind was extremely strong wind, which formed some big waves and huge whitecaps. The mountains were forcing the moving air through a channel, which I guess caused the strong wind.

Shopped today at Cream, which sells little funky items to put around home. Mum and dad bought various items for the kitchen and a mobile, I bought some monkey hangers so I can hang my clothes on my door in case I’m picking out clothes or something. I think I’ve got a thing for monkeys, about a year ago I bought grandpa a tie with monkeys on it, from tie rack in the UK.

Apparently it rained this morning and we’re real lucky that the weather’s cleared up. I would imagine Queenstown to be a rather miserable place when it’s raining! The sailing scene in Queenstown seems to be small keelboats and larger, no dinghies. Some locals had a little mini sailing race on the lake. One team even picked up their third crew member off the dock an hour before the race… I cringed at some of the mistakes that were being made but it was all in good fun and interesting to watch as I’ve only once watched a race live and was quite new to racing then. It was an enriching experience to watch the race and not be racing in it… However, I wish I was sailing my laser radial then… could be blasting off-wind real quick, which is probably one of my favourite things to do.

We may even stay an extra night at heritage Queenstown- highly recommend it to anyone, the view from the lake wing is fantastic, but it’s a bit cold now even in early summer, there’s skiing during winter! Dinner at the hotel was lovely, I had salmon, and I can’t remember what mum and dad had.

Going fishing tomorrow again, with John’s friend, Ron Stewart… I can’t wait!!

NZ trout fishing frustrations!

2008-12-11T11:39:00.000+08:00

Well, well, today I went trout fishing with John Hamill. Which, was totally coincidental, Kelly as i didn't contact you're dad, and Uncle Mike did... completely by coincidence! I had loads of fun even though I was unable to bring trout to hand due to bad casting and lousy hook sets, I did however get some very subtle takes… they were so subtle that the indicator didn’t even twitch! Today was one of the days that I wish I was taller, we had to climb around a whole lot, up the banks and all that kind of stuff. It is good to be small (which I am) but it’s possibly better to be tall and lanky so that its much easier to climb up the banks!! Trout fishing is challenging! The fish were so so picky about flies and taking them, it seemed to me to be that they wanted. For the record of my poor trout fishing skills when sight casting, I messed up 8 shots. Sight casting seems to me to be very challenging but extremely fun and requires great perseverance, as well as super quick, quiet and accurate presentation skills. Apparently this afternoon, water was slightly discoloured, due to recent rains! I thought it was really, really clear, especially when compared to the murky Singapore water. Apparently the rain had flushed many large fish back into the lake which accounted for the low number fish per unit area and unwillingness to feed... well, i'll keep trying to catch a trout... i think i'll have to do it in the south island though...

Having had a long and hot afternoon challenging fishing, we drove back to Uncle Mike’s house and detoured at his neighbour’s place to have a look at his and his daughter’s house. It was beautiful, set on the high banks of the Waikato river, it had many recycled materials in it such as recycled wood to make the fireplace, a butcher’s table in the middle, and such like. It was a wonderful house! There were many trees behind the house and they were building a Bed and breakfast! The cabin was a very nicely built and since it was surrounded by trees, it had a quiet, peaceful and serene feel. Having spent about 2 hours looking around the house, we left for home! Dinner at uncle Mike’s was wonderful- home grown lamb and beef, pasta, and local salmon! I’m a little sad that we’re leaving tomorrow… but one has to move on to see more of New Zealand. Life would be much easier if we had 3 weeks instead!

2008-12-10T17:24:00.000+08:00

I had a genius idea yesterday evening before I fell asleep so I told it to dad and he agreed. So now, we’ve got a rental SUV instead of the little Toyota corolla and I’d say it’s a lot easier to fit all the bags into the back and its got a smoother ride, but sadly more roll. Dad and I met mum at the airport, she got upgraded to business class… lucky!! I told her all about the going-on’s the past few days… and she laughed!! We then drove to Hamilton, where we’re staying the night at uncle mike’s home, which is like a farm, with a beautiful house on it. Upon arrival Dad and Uncle Mike went off to the sawmill while Auntie Sally, mum and I went to Hamilton gardens. I took lots of photos… about a hundred or so i think… thank goodness it’s stopped raining and the weather is warming up and getting really very plesant! Auntie sally cooked dinner and it was real nice!! Tomorrow I’m going trout fishing and to say the least, I’m real excited! Going to pack soon… at least the 2 trout boxes are fully packed and ready to go! I’m also bring my flats fly box because Jimmy Wong was after all catching fish on Charlies which are usually used on bonefish in the Bahamas!

2008-12-09T17:20:00.001+08:00

This morning was quite nice even though dad woke me up at 845am,which was way early… considering that I went to bed past midnight… Margret cooked breakfast this morning and it was absolutely wonderful! We had cereal, fruits, bacon, poached eggs and toast. It was the tastiest and hearty breakfast I’d had in a long time. Margret also gave me some recipes for shortbread and a particular orange sauce that goes with chicken, duck and I’d suppose fish.

It was another gloomy, rainy and misty day today, but I took some shots of the view from the house. After which, Dad and I waved goodbye, set off for lifeway collage in Snell’s beach. We had lunch with uncle Mike on campus, and it was very nice. I enjoyed lunch. The food was good, the atmosphere was nice, and the company rocked!! Having filled the stomachs, we adjourned to Huhu studios to take a look around, which was very interesting… we met some of the artists who are very interesting people! After the visit, Dad, Uncle Mike and I drove back to Auckland and encountered a bit of heavy traffic. We ate dinner at a Cantonese restaurant across the road from Citylife Auckland, which was quite nice and really convenient!
I’m now back at Citylife Auckland… Mum arrives tomorrow at 1155am, hope she’s early then we will zoom down to Hamilton to stay with uncle Mike and auntie Sally for 2 nights Wednesday n Thursday, day trip to Rotorua for trout fishing on Thursday, fly to Queenstown on friday

2008-12-08T16:17:00.002+08:00

This is going to be a really short entry… because I’m tired, its 1140 at night and i’d like to get some rest. I’ve had long and tiring day, without any fishing… I’m still highly relieved to have found my point and shoot camera…anyway, today Dad and I drove from Motel Russell to Kerikeri airport which is really small, when we got to Kerikeri airport, I was stunned at the size of the airport as it was tiny!!! I think it just services domestic flights in small planes as well as the local flying club. Even the people there who work for budget knew nothing about the GPS but at least the new one that they gave us to use seems to work fine which was a great relief. We were able to find our way to belvedere home stay, which is run by Ron and Margret who are an older, but seem to be extremely happy couple. Margret cooked dinner for all of us and it was lamb, which I am not very fond of, but surprisingly, it was really very good. Margret is a phenomenal chef! Thank Goodness for the I-site at Wharengi, as Michelle who was the girl at the counter found us this homestay.
Anyway, the weather today was really quite miserable, drizzling and cloudy with no sign of the sun, however, I still needed to have my ray-bans on my nose as it was by no means easy to look at the clouds reflecting sunlight into one’s eyes. According to the weather forecast, it’s going to be miserable tomorrow. I sure hope it does not stay like this! Where is the fine weather that New Zealand is famous for??

2008-12-07T16:15:00.003+08:00

Today was a great day! The weather was excellent with calm waters, clouds thin and high in the sky, a steady current flow, breeze a good boat and captain and the snapper were biting but sadly, not very aggressively.

Anyway, here’s the scoop… this morning, Dad and I woke up at about 710am to get ready to go fishing… I still couldn’t find my point and shoot camera and just grabbed my big camera bag with the SLR in it and off we went. We got to the Russell wharf at 8am and there was Carl standing there outside the information counter which was just opening wearing a jet black shirt that had the lettering “4 reel” charters, Carl.

It must’ve taken about 15-20 minutes to get out from the wharf to the first fishing spot where the lines went down with halves of “salty dog” brand salted pilchards as bait, on what were probably 5/0 circle hooks. I would guess they were about 4x strong… this meant we would be into some serious fish… He passed Dad a pretty big rod and the shimano reel was loaded up with 20kg mono while the set he passed to me had 10kg mono on it. I guess he figured it would suit me better… Which it did, I can’t exactly hold onto a huge rod and reel set up for a really long time, especially if its heavy (which this was).

Carl warmed us up on some smaller snapper in the 30-40cm range, which provided a little bit of fun as the takes were very enthusiastic and they would hook virtually themselves. Sadly, instead of taking up the slack when the fish grabbed the bait, Dad kept jerking the rod so the hook would just pop out of the fish’s mouth instead of smoothly into the fish’s lip. As a result, at the first spot, Dad and I caught 4 fish between the 2 of us.

We soon drifted past the snapper school, or it moved off, and we changed spot and began to search for bigger fish. We came across a huge bait school and there were many other boats around it, all with their lines down, but there was no action. There was the odd 45cm fish being picked up but nothing huge… we motored further up current and set up a drift… while Dad, Gary and I set halves of pilchards and dragged them along just above the bottom, Carl jigged for baitfish and he is good at it… before we knew it, the tank at the back of the boat was full of scad. At this spot, dad caught a sweep, which is a trash fish and I managed a snapper or 2, which we released. Since the live-well was full, it was time to move on. I think I can attribute the rapid catch rate of bait to Carl’s jigging skills and the speed at which he unhooks the bait, with a spoon!

Spot 3… we had some big hits and made good on one of them… landing a good sized snapper that went probably 8 lbs and it was bright reddish brown in colour. Such a beautiful fish…it was destined for the dinner table- for sure! We had the usual baby snappers around 35cm… On Carl’s boat, legal sized snapper are 32cm even though the national minimum size is 27cm, simply because a 27cm snapper doesn’t give you very much of a feed while a 32cm fish does.

The current began to pick up at around 1130 so we moved over to yet another spot. From here, I could see kingfish smashing baitschools, leaping out of the water and chasing bait as it tried so desperately to escape the huge mouth and empty stomach, but it was not to be, the frenzy continued on and on. Down went the anchor, and the sinkers, circle hooks and cut pilchard or scad, which had not survived in the live-well. They were chopped in half or rigged whole and lowered to the bottom. Here is where we had more big hits and as noon approached, the live bait came out and I’m not very good at live bait but we managed our second big snapper of the day, which weighed in at about 9-10lbs which took a live scad. Before I knew it we had to head back to the dock… at least we had all caught lots of fish… on this bottom where it had few corals and practically nothing that could cut your line, I was kicking myself because I would have liked to have one of my own light tackle sets in my hands which would have enabled me to extract more fun out of each fish, and I wouldn’t have missed so many bites since I’m used to fishing with light instead of heavy tackle.

I’m still stoked about this afternoon’s fishing… all the fish were legal sized, with a 2 biggies and other lost big fish… it was really fun! Even Dad who doesn’t fish talked and talked and talked about it. We kept one fairly small snapper that went 37cm because we were fishing over about 40 meters of water and dad wound him up in a hurry so his swim bladder was bloated… into the box he went, along with the 2 biggies… Fishing today was a good reminder that there are many interesting fish in the sea worth preserving. I’ve never caught a snapper that had blue green spots on its body, and these ones did, well maybe not the big ones but the small ones did… and they are extremely pretty fish! We even saw various pods of dolphins on the way out to fishing [took lots of pictures] and on the way back without even trying, we even saw sea birds like gulls and gannets, the dive bombing was super cool! The bird just tucks its wings in and falls out of the sky, going straight into the water after baitfish. Wonder if them birds ever get chomped by a shark or something. We also saw one lonely penguin paddling around the deep blue sea… landscape I notice is really quite rugged… {RACHEL ONG! THOUGHT OF YOU HERE after all, you’re miss ODAC =P}

Something that Singapore doesn’t have is clear and clean water… we could see the colour of the fish when it was still beating its tail and doing circles under the boat about 5-10 meters below the surface! Actually, in my opinion for the half day’s fishing, $100 was well worth it. I may one day forget how much I paid, but I wont forget how much fun I had, quality remains when the price is long forgotten…anyway Carl’s rates go something like this $100 PP/4 hours snapper fishing, $210 PP/5-6 hours kingie fishing, Carl does marlin too… didn’t ask about that… but I expect it to be expensive.

I tried for Kingfish off the rocks… I did hookup… I sure did… and well, lets just say, I need a new fly line since one of them cut me off real bad… if I ever make this trip again, I’d bring some of my own tackle… like my pro gear 450 reel and a jigging rod and my 8-17 spinning set… they would have worked like a real charm!

We ate fillets from the 10lbs fish for lunch at Sally’s- it was very good but very filling… The pretty waitress gave us many types of sauces, Thai chili, tomato, cold slaw flavour, light mustard, white wine and 2 other unknowns… For first time, I drank a beer at lunchtime [Stella- memories of the Rev & Cambridge]! Sally’s, which is a restaurant has very nice food, nicely cooked, tasty but not your big plate small food thing… we actually went there for 2 meals and would have gone for a third one but it was closed.

Anyway, we walked around Russell after lunch and i got rather tired, so I walked back to motel early. While picking up my fishing vest and turning it upside down, my point and shoot camera fell out of the biggest pocket at the back! I’m so relieved!!!! I celebrated by going down to the beach and the wharf and Swoff-ed off there, which is why I need a new bonefish taper for my 9wt rod… anyway, at the wharf, I had a short fish with my Winston BII-Mx 6wt, caught some livies, spooked some mullet and chatted with some locals, one from Alaska, sailed to NZ [a guy]… and Kelly, and her husband Travis. Kelly and Travis live up in Russell… one meets all sorts of people on holiday… Kelly’s dad is a fishing guide in Rotorua, and I might call him if I need a guide in Rotorua or on my next trip here. I also saw 2 very pretty girls who were diving/jumping off the wharf and swimming around… not the safest place but all in good fun I suppose. Russell is such a friendly and relaxed place! haha… Bing Xi- if u were still head prefect, and we were here, I think Ivan, Thanapon, Joel & I would’ve thrown you in all in good fun especially because there were some jelly fish swimming around!

The weather here is crazy… when you pull out the 9weight, the wind dies and u think, its 6weight time… if you’ve got the 6weight, the wind flexes its muscles and shows you who’s boss…

We’ll be Driving to Kawakawa airport tomorrow to get the new GPS… shouldn’t take more than 1.5 hours… don’t have to worry a thing about putting more mileage on the Toyota corolla hatchback since its rented… what a good feeling Damn!!!!! I’m fried like a lobster!!! Forgot the white war paint [sunblock]… gotta do damage control with lotion… Petrol is expensive in this quiet little town… ½ tank was $40! Shit… this is almost Singapore pricing… I better stop complaining =P Can’t wait for mum to get here on Wednesday and to meet up with Uncle Mike on tuesday and get myself trout fishing on thursday…I think its just going to be 1/2 day or maybe 1 in north Island of trout-ing… there are 2 reservoirs up here in the north, doubt its great… weather here’s quite hot and trout don’t exactly love heat! Well Mum’s promised lots of trout fishing in the south island so we’ll see how we get on. Man I did a lot today and this is a super long entry… photos to follow!

Readers: send me your address and postal code so I may send you a Christmas card!

2008-12-06T11:39:00.000+08:00

6/12/08
hello hello! Its day 2 (:
well… this morning I got up bright and early, actually not very early but very bright (8:40am), packed up my bags a little and headed back down to Zest for breakfast, which was really pretty good! I enjoyed the mushrooms a lot… they were done in a sauce… to cut a long story short, after much pain of packing up, checking out and sorting out accommodation at Russell, which is in the northern part of the north island, which Sana [Finnish girl at the reception] organized for us, Dad and I left Citylife Auckland for Rod and Reel, which is a fly shop in Newmarket [22 Melrose street]. We were welcomed into the shop by Yoshi, who is a very helpful and extremely friendly person. I bought 6x hare and copper, 6x Phesant tail nymph, 1 Olive Airflo Platinum fly line WF-6F, 1x 12lbs 50yard Maxima Chameleon tippet. His assistant (very helpful olderman) pointed me to Tapeka point to try some fishing.

We “finally” got on the road to Russell at about 11:15-11:30am and it was a fairly uneventful trip until Dad scared me out of my nap at about 2 hours out of Russell as the GPS had told him to do something and he assumed we had reached Russell… not fun! According to him, it had also gone blank! GRRR!!! We had lunch at a roadside parade with tourist information and 4 restaurants & art gallery- I had 1/2sandwich and hot choc. I really was not feeling hungry.

The journey to Russell is shortened by the car ferry, which newer GPS- units have. So, my dear Dad and I took car ferry across the Harbour (I cant for the life of me remember from where to where) but It was the princely sum of $10 per car, $1 per passenger. While on the ferry, we have to Detour to Kawakawa airport to get a new GPS unit on probably Monday. Trip there takes about 1h30min from Russell according to our failing GPS unit. Kawakawa has some trout fishing (Lake Opura I think-brochure in car... picked up at lunch spot) no idea if I’ll get to chuck a nymph or dry fly at some of them. Road trip now is probably going to become Auckland-Russell (2 nights)- Kawakawa (1night) - Snell’s Beach/point (1 night)- Auckland (pass through to get mum on wed)-Hamilton (2 nights)- Auckland (fly to Queenstown)

Eventually we arrived at Motel Russell at about 340pm and got settled in, room 14.The room is by the road but very quiet. Its not got any air conditioning but that’s alright with me. To indicate how cold it gets in the winter, the beds are heated and there is a heating unit located right by the door.

Having settled in, I went fishing at Tapeka Point at about 530-645. The conditions were like this, it was rather rocky, apparently low tide, visible rocks above and sub-surface, light wind, small waves and seriously clear saltwater… lost 2 white flies (Charlie and clouser) had a hit on orange thing and got snagged, Coho WF6F scuffed. Finally used new Winston rod!!! 8lbs tippet quite easy to snap in SW!!! 12lbs gives more chance… and even then I still got busted off by I think it was a snapper. Tomorrow, I’m going to go fishing! Well actually I’m going to do some more fishing tomorrow morning. And we’re going after snapper with “4 real charters” at 8am, which is run by a person named Carl who is [according to Jo, the girl who runs the motel with her hubby] a very nice person! Well in my opinion, most of these charter boat people who have a good reputation are nice and dependable people who produce results.
I have just this minute realized that… Today is the first day I actually whipped out my camera and took some photos… hardly took any. I thought the scenery was really plesant, with some breathtaking moments which I missed as its not easy to snap a picture going at 100km/h on the highway, we’ll have to see how on the next few long drives… whatever it is, I snapped about 5-8 scenery ones today. Sunset in Russell today was beautiful and knowing me I photographed some of it!!

Just a bit about Russell, very small town with 2 main streets, with a huge hill on the way to Tapeka Point. Being Foodies, we got some dinner recommendations and they were Bounty Bistro and Sally’s. I’d personally recommend Sally’s. in Russell, there are Many interesting shops, which mainly sell art and craft, in addition there is 1 small fishing shop without fly gear. But the shopkeeper was very happy to tell me where to go, and warned me about the fish sizes and stuff like that, and actually if you’ve got to measure it, its undersized! That said, this is day 2 without surfing the Internet and listening to Music!
Places to try: the wharf, rocks on either side, Tapeka point, oh yeah, and if any kiasu person decides to be smart and take undersized fish, the locals are excellent at whipping out a phone and calling their local fish and game office to hunt you down… so don’t even think about it. Taking undersized fish is just disgusting…
On a supremely happy note, I sure am enjoying myself a lot!!!! (Yes Rachel Ng, I’m having more than my fair share of fun =P). I can’t wait… going fishing tomorrow
Shit... I think I lost my PnS camera… I cant seem to find it this morning… drat!! Will have to take the SLR out on the boat I guess…

2008-12-05T11:07:00.000+08:00

Well, dear readers, I arrived in Auckland today at about 1130am… Yes I’m alive and in one-piece… haha! I hardly slept [grand total of 5 hours and getting woken up about 3-4 times… couldn’t be bothered to count] at all last night for various reasons such as a warm plane, wailing children and rather turbulent weather… on the good side, Dad and I managed to secure 3 seats between the 2 of us so I could half lie down and get as much rest as I could… lucky Wen and Mum managed to get an upgrade to business when they went… well, Mum did have a sprained ankle.

The airport in Auckland is quite nice really, large DFS, efficient customs, and actually, what matters is that it is quite a nice and slow paced place as after I went through customs, my heart rate seemed to slow down and relax after stepping out into the arrival hall. Dad and I then headed over to the Budget car rental counter to collect a car, the receptionist who was at the counter, was really humourous. I guess she has the typical kiwi humour and cracked plenty of jokes. Knowing dad, he could not make a decision swiftly and was tossing up between the Ford Territory and the Corolla, we stuck with the latter in the end… we have a GPS too!! That’s a lot of fun to use and it helped us to navigate to Citylife Auckland [hotel] quite painlessly… it tells you where to turn and how far away you are, however it is about 30-50 meters off…

Having been checked into the hotel [The bed here is super comfortable! It’s actually really soft and bouncy while mine at home is hardly like a rock], we dropped our bags down in our large and comfortable room, we went to explore Auckland and walk around. It seems to me to be that all the surf shops in New Zealand or more specifically Auckland on Queen’s street are in intense competition with each other! Quiksilver, Billabong, Oakley and Rip Curl are all within 3 blocks of each other. Sadly, nothing really interested me. There were 1-2 pairs of board shorts look ok, but nothing that grabbed me round that throat and screamed BUY ME, BUY ME!!!… However, there were some interesting and nice girly tees and bikinis that Jie would wear on her days off in Quiksilver and Rip Curl [as usual]. I also saw various cool bags in Rip Curl (incuding Jenevieve’s boyfriend’s bag) I wonder where was O’Neil and Reef, they’re the other 2 brands that I can think of at the moment that were invisible… perhaps they were hiding as they were afraid I’d clean out their inventory… yeah right, like I’ve got that much cash =P… I was right or rather, mum was right, Auckland is a rather relaxed and slightly sleepy city with most shops closing between 5 and 6 o’clock but there are some interesting shops including one that made jewelry and made some of their products on site. There was also a kiwi bookstore, which was really rather interesting as it had a feel like select books but more homey and welcoming.

I visited the university of Auckland, which was quite a lot of fun. The university campus is gigantic, with a variety of both old and new buildings. Being a kiwi? University, the school has a relaxed feel about the place and does not feel like a factory like some schools in Singapore. The students’ faces also told happy stories as opposed to sad ones which one sometimes encounters. We left at about 6:15 and on the way back we visited a craft shop, which was run by some very friendly and interesting people (hubby & wife) and, we bought a Jade pendant.

Having walked so much, we were feeling slightly hungry, Dad and I decided on dinner and we went to Zest, which is the hotel restaurant and it served some nicely cooked and flavour-some food! I had pork belly and dad had Lamb… Which isn’t high on my preference list… This restaurant was nice, spacious, had some large English windows, and subtle well-placed lighting so that one could read the menu easily and without the light being too bright as it reflects off the white paper. Deanna who was the waitress was really sweet and her collegue (who was a guy btw) was also good and efficient, and made some very good suggestions!

Dad and I will drive to Russell tomorrow which should take about 3-4 hours by looking at the map and estimating. We’ve actually planned out our driving/road tripping around the North Island of New Zealand, we’re going to do a big loop if possible, and do a north loop and a south loop or do a huge circle- ah whatever!!!! Tomorrow we are going to go from Auckland to Russell and spend 1 to 2 nights there. The rest from Russell is going to go something like this Snell’s Beach/point (1-2 night)- Auckland (pass through to get mum)-Hamilton (2 nights)- Auckland on Air New Zealand (fly to Queenstown)

Having been in England for about 5 weeks, this time last year, I’ve got to talk about the weather! The weather here is really very pleasant. I’ve been walking around in Jeans and a shirt, but would be quite happy in a pair of boardshorts and a comfy tee. The temperature seems to plunge at night and it gets quite chilly at night and in the early morning I would imagine… I have absolutely no idea what the temperatures are but I do know that the forecast said that the high is 26deg, low is 10.

For various people!!
Ms Lim: Sorry, I’ve yet to do more editing of your wedding photos [embarrassment]… I hope you’re enjoying your honeymoon!!! I’m sure enjoying my holiday even though I’m falling asleep in front of my computer!

Fishers: walked past the water near the hotel- TOTALLY UNFISHABLE!!!!!
Tien: I’m not freezing yet =P

Other friends: Missing you guys!!! Message me or email me if you need anything! But DON’T ASK FOR A LIVE SHEEP, that’s not possible as it won’t fit into my Samsonite or my Lowepro.
Photos to follow with commentary!!

2008-12-02T12:22:00.000+08:00

you've hurt me... but somehow i wish u had cut me deeper so i would bleed till all the life flowed out of my veins

2008-11-18T14:32:00.003+08:00

I haven't put anything on this year so to my few readers who actually visit... i'm still alive although i'm having exams and have had some computer problems, hence no entries... anyway, i'll be done by thursday and after that i'm going out for lunch with Dad and possibly Mum, then i need to go to the bank to make a fix deposit. well, expect more photos and blog entries soon.. (:

2007-08-10T22:27:00.000+08:00

love resides in the gap between desire and fulfilment, in the lack, not the contentment. love is the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself... deep aint it? =p

my new love!

2007-07-03T21:00:00.000+08:00

well, i took some pictures at the 40th aniversary of the SAFYC, and well, now i'm pretty much hooked on wakeboarding! its sure is a very fun sport! whoopee! going riding this saturday too! hope my buddies are free (: hope you guys like the pics, its a slideshow btw!

Flower closeups

2007-05-01T19:22:00.000+08:00

took some flowers at the Singapore botanical garden today... rather nice results... used a 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lense most of the time. hope you like the pics as much as i like them (or maybe more-HAHA)!

my first try at Dragon Flies

2007-05-01T19:07:00.000+08:00

Red dragon flies!! taken again at the botanical Gardens...

Camera: Nikon D200
Lense: Nikkor AF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6
Mode: Aperture Priority
ISO:100
White Balance: Cloudy
Focal Length (35mm Format): 450mm

pictures!!

Mynah Bird (2nd local species)

2007-04-29T18:55:00.000+08:00

I took this picture today... its a mynah bird having lunch which is a piece of papaya.. this is the second species of wild bird that i am photographing. the first was a greater coucal which was not such a fantastic shot but its okay. this shot of the mynah is way sharper! comment if u wanna...

calander 2008

2007-02-26T21:17:00.000+08:00

well, i'm thinking of putting together a calander for 2008. the pictures that will be used are ones that i've taken. so far, i've got 4 shots that are worthwhile putting in but of course i am aiming to surpass these shots and include different and better ones. will probably publish just birds and maybe animals too, if i get some nice pictures from the zoo *when i do make a trip there*.

Galah

Ornate Hawk Eagle

Blue and Gold macaw

African Crown Cranes

2006-12-31T16:17:00.000+08:00

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
buy the best that suits your requirments and your budget

.::hian lee::. says:
nikon
.::hian lee::. says:
urm

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
hahahaha

.::hian lee::. says:
i donno wad to say but
.::hian lee::. says:
urm
.::hian lee::. says:
what buget
.::hian lee::. says:
keke

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
hahahahaha
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
oh ya
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
u can even buy all the speedlights on the market
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
and have spare cash for a D200
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
and all the lenses in the nikon range

.::hian lee::. says:
*koff

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
hahahaha

.::hian lee::. says:
well
.::hian lee::. says:
lets look at speedlight

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
haha
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
u need it to light up the night sky so it looks like day
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
get the best speedlight in the solar system
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
its called the sun

.::hian lee::. says:
yah

.::hian lee::. says:
only if i can find that adaptor

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
hahaha

.::hian lee::. says:
and make it work at night...

♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠ says:
ya man.. if only!

one lone photo...

2006-12-09T23:16:00.000+08:00

just managed to borrow a Nikon D70 dSLR camera body from a close friend for a long term loan and took some pics. just sharing the first of many. i like it and this particular picture captures the mood of the evening after a long day working. please do comment! thank you!

2006-11-14T23:16:00.000+08:00

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.

Photo/get together outing..

2006-11-13T17:04:00.000+08:00

hi everyone!
there will be a small photo taking/ get together for everyone i know... let me know if u wanna come... nothing special.. just going out in a group to take some photos of birds...

venue: Jurong Bird Park
time: meet up at 9
Date: 18/11/2006
meeting place: entrance of the park

Alternative meeting area, en route to the bird park

Place: Raffles Place MRT, the platform for the train heading to BoonLay.
Time: 8:10

things to bring
-yourself
-money for lunch and entrance fees
-camera (If you want)
-hat (If you want)
-raincoat as it could rain in the afternoon
-insect repellent?
i think thats all..

please email or msn or tag if u wanna come:)

2006-11-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

whoopeee!!! 9 more days to the last paper :)
which happens to add math *rolls eyes*... hope i'll do okay... been working at it for a really long time... i am kinda stressed and all but just taking life as it comes. IGCSE/ O levels is just one of those things that one has to go through when getting an education... i think i'll do fine and continue with the IB for tertiary education.

lets see... after the exams i will be
-fishing in the early mornings and late afternoons
- going out
- photographing at the Zoo and the Bird Park in my free time
- going off to Thailand
- setting up my new fish tank
- rescaping my current tank
- fooling around
- having loads of fun:)
- maybe i'll start sailing again
- getting new shades!!!

thats all i can think of now and i better get back to studying... hope it all goes to plan.. sadly, i'm kinda reluctant to go to Thailand. well, thats beside the point... i wonder how well i will do for IGCSE because some papers were not easy at all... in fact they were difficult... i think i will pull through... 3Bs and 3Cs cant be to hard to get. but i really do want to do well after putting in all this work in 2 years... sometimes i find it hard to believe when i wake up that i actually have to go and take an exam. the thoughts that run through my mind are along the lines of will i be able to do it? What questions will be asked? Have i studied everything?

i dont know really... well, i'll just get through this, do my best at my studies, and after all the studying and exams i'll go have fun:) i know this is a bit late but, to everyone taking the O levels or IGCSE, All the best & Good luck:)

The Student's Psalm

2006-10-29T15:27:00.000+08:00

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not flunk;
He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying.
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break;
He restoreth my faith in study guides.
He leads me to better study habits
For my grade's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades,
I will not have a nervous breakdown;
For thou art with me.
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me.
Thou givest me answers in moments of blankness;
Thou anointest my head with understanding.
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognize.
Surely passing grades and flying colors shall follow me
All the days of my examinations,
And I shall not have to dwell in this university/school forever,
Amen!

2006-10-15T22:40:00.000+08:00

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31

Rearrange!!

2006-08-19T23:21:00.001+08:00

Well, i made some changes to my tank today.
heres the info about the tank.

Misc info

Tank size
4x1.5x1.5 feet

Filtration
Eheim Pro2 2228
Eheim Pro 2228

CO2
From Ceremic Diffuser, 3 Bubbles per second

Substrate
Lapis Sand

Inhabitants
Clown Loach
Polka dot loach
Congo Tetra
Whiptail catfish
Oto Catfish
Yamato Shrimp
Glass Prawn

Flora

ITS RAINING TETRA BITS!!

the big picture!

Fauna

Oto catfish!

some of the congos

cute pose!!

CL that seems to think its a congo

Yamato shrimp

photo tips from Simon

2006-08-15T22:35:00.000+08:00

1) to prevent handshakes, always have yr shutterspeed greater than yr focusing length
example: if you shoot at 200mm, make sure your shutterspeed is above or equal to 1/200s

2) use one hand to shoot, always hold with both hands

3) make sure you are standing firmly and not doing a balancing act on one foot

4) before you push yr shutter, remember to hold yr breath

tip: monopod/tripod will help, but depends on yr subject.

sad, Goodbye Margot, its goodbye forever.

2006-07-27T19:05:00.000+08:00

today.. in the morning, while i was still sleeping. margot, my rough coated collie passed away. when i found her in the morning, she was totally stiff and cold. i.e. lifeless. sighs. i wont forget her, ever. going to school and patting her for the very last time was very difficult. saying Goodbye for the last time was also awful. i feel torn to pieces. the time in school wasn't easy. though we had a workshop, i couldnt pay attention. my mind wandered to think of her, my friends and memories i have had with the dear doggie. coming home was also quite awful knowing that she wouldnt be at the gate waiting for me to step in. she was burried in the garden during the afternoon.

She was the best! i had so much fun training her. rewards ranged from treats to bits of apple to being tickled on her tummy (she LOVED that). margot was forever so obedient, forgiving- letting me get away with few handling errors and she taught me so much; what i did right and what i did wrong, barking on command, always coming when called, walking at heel no matter what, chasing after little a tennis ball or a frisbee and bringing them back. very sweet and affectionate, hanging around me or wen or mum and dad. she loved eating fruits and other sweet things. the last thing i trained her to do last week was to whine on command. that was so fun! teaching her something new was always fun. i cant bring myself to write anymore without crying so i will stop here with her photo at 2 years of age.

2006-07-23T23:40:00.000+08:00

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be sucessful. Have i not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged , for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8-9

planted tank update!!

2006-07-19T20:24:00.000+08:00

here is the update. yes i know. the left side is absolutely awful!! i removed the flower pot. i like the right side though... please give feedback on the set up. both negative and positive comments are appreciated .

Enjoy!!

filter
eheim pro 2 2028
eheim pro 2028

CO2- 2 Bubbles per sec

fauna
approx 45-50 congo tetras
8 oto cats
1 pleco
4 whip tails
2 polka dot loach
ghost shrimp

pictures

Front

right side view

the right 5/8ths of the tank

trying out the macro function

pics of the fauna, more to follow if my cam batt recharges in time

moved the drift wood on the top of my rock during the shoot as i wanted a pic of my sword plant by itself and the drift wood was not helping. so yeah.

sword plant

Recount of the Collared Dove that flew into my room

2006-07-14T13:03:00.000+08:00

Collared dove!! flew into my room, and was released unharmed.

up in the sky light

sitting on my blind.

very pretty chest and tail

GOT IT!!

about to release

2006-07-04T21:46:00.000+08:00

24 hours, 3 feedings and 1 water change later, ALL THE FISH ARE STILL DOING FINE, FEEDING WELL and are looking good. colours are slowly ocming out. the blue stripe is more pronounced today.

2006-07-03T21:23:00.000+08:00

new fauna added to the tank... 100 congo tetras, all in juvenile colouration at just under 1 inch long. pictures to follow.

its almost over

2006-07-01T19:14:00.000+08:00

well, today is the first day of the sake noss regatta. its less than 1 week to the interschools and after that, i probably wont be sailing again for the rest of the year. i will miss everyone especially the people i met all those years ago while i was still sailing the optimist or topper. people like Feng Yi, Desiree, Yen Riel, Eugene. I love my the people who are in the squad at the moment. great bunch of people. for the first time we sat together after the boats had been taken off the water and just chatted. that was super duper nice!! man... i'm gonna miss it after the interschool. perhaps i'll keep sailing after the IGCSEs. its been a long time and today the wind was really strong and the water was very rough. so much so that when we were recovering, some of the boats were thrown by the waves into the shore which had rocks strewn all over the place resulting in many damages. thankfully, it didnt happen to my boat. i am glad everyone helped everyone else recover which sped up the process and i think it reduced damages. i'll miss the squad when i have a break for the exams. today's race? well, i've finished midfleet and i feel a bit sad that i do not sail as well as i used to but yet happy because i did my best and have no regrets about it. after all, strong wind and choppy water is not my strong point. oh well, tomorrow is a new day and i'll try to improve my results. hopefully i will so i can have fond memories of the last ranking race of the year.next target? interschool sailing championships!

2006-06-25T23:06:00.000+08:00

*first line copied of YJ*
The following fellows shall do this as well =)
1. Jing Ge
2. Jing Ge
3. Clarence
4. Jotham
5. Brendan
6. Keanne
7. Lydia
8. erm... cant think of anyone else at the moment
9.
10.

My life is 70% perfect

[x] You know someone that cares about you.
[ ] You have a bf/ gf/ fiancee/ husband/ wife.
[ ] You have your own room.
[x] You own a cell phone.
[ ] You get good grades.
[ ] You have an ipod/ mp3 player.
[x] Your parents are still married.
[x]You have more than 2 best friends.
[ ] There is a swimming pool in your backyard.
[x] You live in a house.
T O T A L: 5

[x] You dress how you want to.
[ ] You hang out with friends more than once a wk.
[x] There is a computer/ laptop in your room.
[ ] You have never been beaten up.
[x] You never cry more than twice a month.
[x] You are allowed to listen to the music you want to.
[x] Your room is big enough for you.
[ ] People don't use you for something you have.
[x] You have been to a concert.
[x] You laugh more than twice a day.
T O T A L: 7

[x] You have over 100 friends on friendster.
[x] You have pictures on friendster.
[x] You get allowance.
[x] You collect something normal.
[ ] People don't make fun of you to be mean.
[x] You look foward to go to school.
[x] You don't wish you were someone else.
[x] You play a sport.
[x] You do something after school.
[x] You shower daily.
T O T A L: 9

[ ] You own a car.
[x] You usually don't fight with your parents.
[x] You're healthy.
[x] You are happy with your appearance.
[ ] You aren't self-conscious at all.
[ ] You have never got a failing grade in your life.
[x] You have friends.
[x] You have so many inside jokes with friends.
[x] You know your parents care and love you.
T O T A L: 6

[x] You know what is going on in the world.
[x] You care about so many people.
[x] You are happy with your life.
[x] You usually aren't sick.
[x] You know more than one language.
[ ] You have a screen name.
[ ] You own a pet.
[x] You know the words to more than 5 songs.
[x] You don't have many enemies.
[x] You are happy you're living.
T O T A L: 8
GRAND TOTAL : 35
Now count up the number and multiply by 2.
Then repost saying " My life is **% perfect"

some more photos.

2006-06-24T22:37:00.000+08:00

Misc Pics from my holiday

Schooling snappers

Starfish

very co operative and cute fishie :P

Sand Tiger Shark with a remora

Bat fishes

Black Tip

Sand Tiger

Leopard shark

Tristan, Jared, Adam, Auntie Emilyn, Dad and Wen came to the bird park. tristan was really scared of tupa :( he was really nervous but at least he held the bird XD

went fishing with Jimmy Aw, Mum, Jeremy and Michael Lim on 17th june. i got the first fish of the day and it was a peacock!

water garden

2006-06-08T07:28:00.000+08:00

my fish tank when it was set up on 29th may.

on 7th june, spent about 2 hours 30 mins adding new plants, and trimming back the old ones due to rotting or the plant growing too fast, thus, blocking the new plants from recieving enough light. all the original plants are still there but are a little shorter except for the one in the back left corner.

2006-06-01T23:00:00.000+08:00

Went to the bird park today. took a few photos at the BOP show and a young but fully grown 6 month old brahminy kite during training.

Pictures from the morning show!

Secretary bird, Sheela

Brahminy Kite, Sheenu snatching meat from chopsticks

African Fish Eagle

Harris' hawk, hawk eye

Baby Brahminy kite (6 mths old) during training

Afternoon show, i only took photos of the kites as i was late.

Snatching a piece of meat

thats all for now. will post more photos after adjusting the contrast.

Ren

2006-05-29T22:10:00.000+08:00

the person who said money cant buy happiness,
never bought himself a good fly rod.

when there is no wind, ROW!

ITS SHOPPING DAY! WHEEEEE

2006-05-28T22:03:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow i've got Chinese O levels.. how am i feeling? well... mixture of apprehension, fear, a speck of confidence and some trust. thoughts of Jesus being with me, Praising Him and the likes run through my mind. the Holy Spirit will be with me tomorrow, then again its always with me wherever i go. God is Good all the time, all the time, God is Good.

Ren

2006-05-20T13:06:00.000+08:00

hellohello! its been so long since i wrote anything. well, not a whole lot of stuff has happened. next week is the last week of term 2. man... its passing so fast... how now brown cow? mid year exams are over too, i kinda screweed up pretty darn bad... well at least its better now than at my GCSE. i know what i have to work on...

went fishing the weekend the exams finished with Jeremy, Jimmy and Ben. the trip report is here. http://www.fishingkaki.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18244
i nailed my first 2 peacocks on a gurgler fly, ever! surface takes are so exciting!! its like boof! when he takes the fly.

i've got some new sand for my 4 feet tank which will be planted. will be buying a CO2 system and a light from Carlfsk of arofanatics.com. then i just have to get the basefert, plants and liquid fertiliser and i'm all set to start planting. thats about everythign thats going on. oh yah. got chinese GCSE on 31st may. after that its fishing for 1 week straight! whoohoo! and the planted tank and going to the bird park:). heh. its gonna be a tiring holiday but its gonna be fun despite all the studying and sailing.

Ren

2006-05-09T21:11:00.000+08:00

u lied to me
u hurt me
but u noe what? i still wanna be ur friend...

2006-05-08T21:45:00.000+08:00

life isn't the number of breaths you take in a moment but the moments that take your breath away.

E math exam today, it went alright
physics exam was kinda hard but i could do it.

2006-05-08T21:38:00.000+08:00

melanie!! i'm sorry if i said something wrong to you just now. sighx. sorry kae?

2006-05-03T22:03:00.000+08:00

she loves me
she loves me not

fishie ate the lure
fishie spat my lure out

My friends rock
My friends suck

school is fun!
school has too much stress

my family is nice
my family sucks

its sunny and nice outside
its raining cats and dogs

the rain cools the earth on a warm day
the sun consumes every soul standing exposed to it

my raptor took a bunny
my raptor was killed by a bunny

you've just got a job
you've just been fired

well, today, she said she didnt like me.. oh well.. what to do.. sighx... wonder why.. perhaps i make a lousy boyfriend, perhaps i'm not good enough for her..

2006-05-03T18:57:00.000+08:00

hey Jeannette Foo!! werent you looking for this song??

Eagles- Love will keep us Alive

happier times

2006-05-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

the title says it all

Double hookup on baby GTs with Grandpa

ACJC Fun O Rama with my ex Schoolmates

Right to left: me, josh, bren, aqueel, and heath

me dorcas and lydia after 2 hours of trout fishing after dinner.

Ren

Congratulations!

2006-05-02T22:02:00.000+08:00

hey diary.
guess what? Once again, i'm HURT.

Someone said something to me today which was basically like screw off? that was the jist of it. anyway. its the way he put his point accross. it was like dropping my feelings that are made of glass on the floor and letting them shatter to a million pieces then breaking the pieces into smaller pieces.

I looked at the friendship differently after that and i may have gotten a sorry from your darling but... what has been broken has been broken and wont be able to be fixed. think of dropping a glass bowl on the floor. It shatters into many small tiny little smitherines, can it be patched back together again? no, it cant. however, healing does take place over time and i will let go of the hurt. what surprises me is that i thought you were my friend.

I hope and Pray that God will change you. i also pray that he will heal me and we'll be on speaking terms again.

Ps: Desiree! see you soon! its only 4 more weeks.

Goodnight

Ren

2006-05-01T17:31:00.000+08:00

so busy! so much work! so much to study, exams coming, igcse levels coming, gotta finish econs coursework.
sigh!
break down and cry!
or jus go fly away

and i think i'm falling sick. ughx!

An Ren

my very happening weekend

2006-04-30T12:11:00.000+08:00

on friday night, i was playing my guitar and heard a bird up in my room's skylight. so i caught it and released it, the bird was a fruit dove.

last night everyone was out for dinner except me and the maid. she came to my door to tell me there was a snake in her bathroom. i went to have a look and it was all black. it turned out to be a black spitting cobra. i called the police and all but they couldnt kill it or take it away. it even flared at a paper ball! it even flared up and hissed loudly at me when i approached it. It was about 4-5 feet long and all curled up in the corner. super cool!! but quite scary.

i wonder what will turn up today, tonight or tomorrow! hahax

An Ren

2006-04-29T00:42:00.000+08:00

I have made you too small in my eyes, oh Lord, forgive me.
This is what i pray for. I need you, and your everlasting love.

have you?? were you the one??

2006-04-27T22:30:00.000+08:00

You always seem too busy for me.
Is this how its meant to be?
Could it be true?
To think we met only last june.
To see the smile on your face was like a dream,
fresh like the morning dew settled on the green green grass.
Now its like my worst nightmare.
I don't see it anymore,
its a blur of images,
running through my mind,
pain and sorrow oozes from every pore.
I'm like an unwanted item!
Thrown into the corner,
to be left forever or till you need me.
I seem to have been lying here for eternity.
Why have you done this to me?

2006-04-19T11:13:00.000+08:00

Dear diary

i just got my results for the half term... the 2 words to describe my feelings now- dejected and bruised.

Ren

2006-04-18T21:08:00.000+08:00

To the world, you may just be one person... but to one person, you may be the world.

flower power!

2006-04-10T16:44:00.000+08:00

short post...
spend half an hour snapping photos of flowers and plants in my garden. a few days ago. the wonders of a macro function on a digital camera and a flash. the shots turn out pretty interesting too.

Enjoy.

close up

with flash

next flower

heliconia

Hibiscus

cant remember the name for this one

thats all!!

Comments are most welcome.

Ren

2006-04-08T23:56:00.000+08:00

i've been thinking lately. i feel dry. i don't feel God in my life. i think its just me but i don't really know. i do know he is with me even though i don't ask him to be there and that he is holding me in the palm of his hand.
if he would carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, surely he will carry you.

I've thought about people i used to know who have passed away and people are getting old. the burning question was where will you go when you walk through the door called death? my answer? well, i know that when i walk through, Jesus will meet me on the other side.

the thoughts i end this entry with are as follows.
What does life mean to you?
How do you live each day?
do you savour each moment?
take things that happen as they come?
think ahead?
look back and reflect?

Ren

2006-04-02T21:35:00.000+08:00

If a friend does something wrong or if someone hurts you, write it in the sand that the waves or the wind will erase it. if a friend saves you or does something kind to you, carve this in a rock that it will be there forever. Two wrongs do not make a right.

snippet from today's sermon that has stuck in my head.
about Cairn and Abel.
when Cairn killed his brother Abel,
the Lord spoke to Cairn and asked,"Where is your brother Abel?".
"I don't know,"he replied," Am I my brother's keeper?"
The Lord said," What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to recieve your brother's blood from you hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Short update
sailing today was fuN!! wind was super strong and i had a great time surfing waves going downwind. it was really fast and scary but exciting. in short, i didnt capsize going downwind and managed to link 7 waves together. whoohoo! this week i've got a math test so don't expect many updates.

God bless!!!

An Ren

2006-03-28T22:35:00.000+08:00

A mary heart with a martha schedule: The one concern of the devil is to keep christians from praying... The prayer of the feeblest saint on earth who keeps right with God paralyses the darkness- that's why he tries to keep our minds fussy in active work until we cannot think in prayer - oswald chambers

the silver King

2006-03-24T22:16:00.000+08:00

a photo can say a thousand things.

my first tarpon on fly! caught yesterday!

Enjoy!!

An Ren

memories

2006-03-23T19:47:00.000+08:00

was going through my photos today... i found this one...

its a lampan from last season... Lydia took the photo. that trip we were aiming for tarpon at a spot with Desmond and we nailed a big fat ZERO. i had 5 takes and screwed them all up. Lydia got a nice lampan too!

Heres the bit which has kinda made me sad. Lydia doesn't talk to me anymore... aww well... the thought could make me cry. cuz we met while on holiday and the friendship was nice. thats 1, 2 she doesn't seem to want to talk to me anymore. aww well... i guess that it cant be helped... its kinda left me quite lonely because she'd bring me fishing and now, sometimes i have to fish solo. I'd love to fish with the rest of my buddies but sometimes they aren't free when i fish or i'm not free when they fish. aww well.

walk by faith and not by sight.

2006-03-22T23:10:00.000+08:00

Psalms 23;4 Even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the resence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; surely my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalms 37;4 - 9 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of you heart. Cimmit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret- it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

2006-03-19T20:09:00.000+08:00

Dear diary,
I got back from OBS on Friday evening. I brought back friendships, and lessons such as persistence & perseverance, people fail even though they do their best, have faith in a person, trust and teamwork.

Kenneth and I climbed up this element that was a fairly difficult rock wall, some lil pegs sticking out of a tree trunk, up some tyres linked by chains and then a cargo net. That was really fun. we were the first pair from ACS Int to reach the top which made us really happy! Thanks Aaron for belaying me!!! Ur damn pro! Haha...

we had our land expedition and that was fun but my shoes fell to bits. We climbed to the highest point of Pulau Ubin. The view of the granite quarry below was fantastic. The breeze was lovely too. So cool and nice!! It made all the climbing with heavy bags all worthwhile. We had to hike into the forest to locate some little plates with sayings on them. It was fun but tiring.

The sea expedition was really fun. I kayaked with Kenneth from another watch and that was pretty tiring and frustrating. However we kind of made up in the end and did ok. We spent the night at Sembawang park and that was nice. The wind blew all night and it was very cooling. Only thing was that Ling who was an instructor kept poking my shoulder to wake me up. That was irritating. Arun was extremely inconsiderate. He sprawled all over, taking up the space of 3 people. And during the night, he kept kicking me and pushing me out of the basha. I could have killed him. It was so so irritating.

I kayaked back to pulau ubin from Sembawang Park with Renee. She’s really nice. And a pretty good kayaker too!! We kayaked pretty nicely, being in the middle of the fleet most of the time. However, we finished SECOND!!! Whoohoo!! It felt so good!! We both were all smiles after that. Thanks for talking to me and letting me share Ur rations on the ride back. It was really good. The company rocked!! The birdlife was amazing. I saw 3 pairs of white bellied sea eagles, 1 pair of white tailed sea eagles, and a lone brahimny kite along with some other misc birds.

The sunrise was fantastic. It was picture perfect, kayaks in the foreground, a kelong in the middle ground, an orangey sky in the background with the rising sun and on the other side, some darkness and a full moon.

My happiest moment of the sea ex was probably when Renee and I finished second.

My saddest moment of the sea ex was probably when I got out of the kayak for the last time.

We all should have an OBS watch reunion sometime. Haha!

During OBS, it was very much a bonding time for everyone. I think we all made new friends and strengthened existing friendships. More importantly for me, OBS gave me quite a lot of time with God!! I prayed a lot of the time. Every morning I prayed, every afternoon I’d pray, each evening before I slept, I’d pray. Every moment I’d spend in God's presence with all distractions shut out. If I didn’t have anything to pray about, I’d jus sit with Him and listen to his still small voice and let him tell me what he intended me to do for the day or to jus let him give me peace or joy or anything. Overall, I’m closer to him now! That really rocks!

OBS rocked!!! Now I gotta figure out how to use all I’ve learnt. I’ll post some of my journals sometime.

An Ren

2006-03-19T00:00:00.000+08:00

John 10:28 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

a photo collection.

2006-03-11T01:07:00.000+08:00

A collection of photos from Jurong Bird Park, Singapore since i think 2003 when i first got used to my new camera at that time.

Pelican Cove

South EasT AsiAn Aviary
Me and a yellow birdie (south east asian birds around 12 noon during the thunderstorm)

south east asian birds around 12 noon during the thunderstorm

Greater Flamingo(2006 photo)

Birds Of Prey

Crested Cara Cara

Vultures

Malay Fish Owl

Malay Fish Owl with Nisham

me and Tupa(2006 photo)

exhibit near the hawk walk

Grey Heron

Macaws

Crowned Pigeons

Lory Loft

Misc pics

Sea Gull exhibit

i cant remember what this one is

Little parrot

Hornbill

Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

2006-03-05T20:34:00.000+08:00

Dear Diary,
I've been having loads of tests and studying to do so i haven't been able to write. The tests went largely ok. did alright for add math and e math but apparently i'm underperforming. awww well. i guess i've not really been utilising my time to the fullest even though i do my best at the present situation that i see. God is moving, i know he is around and walking with me wherever i go.

Well, my one of my wisdom teeth was extracted on friday. it was excruciating. but it took faster than i thought. when i got home, the stiches started bleeding a bit and the pain set in at around 7pm. i had 2 anesthetic tablets and felt a little better at 8. Before i knew it, i felt my left cheek and it was extremely swelled up, round like a fishball! so i iced it at Winnie's advice and the pain died down.

I went to Alex's and Janine's wedding at BRMC which was sweet and then went to the bird park. Mum drove me which was very kind.

a few pics to share, enjoy (maybe i'm getting used to my camera)

Shah and Norman (white bellied sea eagle)

Gonzo (american King Vulture)

Gopi and George (male andean condor)

Soon and Bobbi (hen Harris' Hawk)

thats all for now....

An Ren

2006-02-28T18:32:00.000+08:00

Dear Diary,
I'm really tired. i had a refreshing weekend by sailing on saturday despite a difficult morning. it was fun. we sailed from the NSRCC to the Changi Clubhouse. it was really fun even though my boat capsized when i was launching and the wind was ultra puffy and strong. its been a while since i had to hike so hard on the reach.

Monday in school was just a really mundane monday in mundane school. had an add math test anddid the last question *any old how*. i hope i can get a mark or two for that question and that i didnt screw up the first 3 questions or else i am sunk and will have no hope of getting a good grade.

Today i had my e math test. that went ok. i hope i didnt leave anything out or make a bunch of stupid mistakes. if i didnt, i'll get a pretty fantastic mark and that thought has made my day. Chemistry remedial was just chemistry remedial and we did a worksheet. i managed to do it but the concepts are still as clear as my green fish pond.

what am i going to do?? this is the part that really frightens me. I feel as if the world is flying by faster than its supposed to and i cant grab the concepts of my studies as fast as i did last year. i am getting it but really slowly. another thing is i have not been resting fantastically well. even though i'm drop dead tired, my mind can still tell me red blood cells are circular and bi concave in shape blah blah blah. Perhaps God is trying to show me something more. I really wanna know what his plan is for me. i'm dying to know. I think it is vet science but i don't know.

School will be out soon and i'll be off to OBS. Hopefully i'll be able to do some fishing before i go and after come back before term starts.

An Ren

love is...

2006-02-20T20:16:00.000+08:00

A song i half learnt while i still sang in the ACMC which is the Anglo Chinese Madrigal Choir or barker choir for short.

Love is patient,
Love is kind,
Love forgives a thousand times,
Love is faithful, ever true.
Love in time makes all things new.
Love is gracious.

Love is strong
Love admits when there is wrong.
Love is tender.
Love is light.
Love Rejoices in the right.

and i cant remember the rest.
got to go find the score sia.

But aren't the words meaningful?
they are descriptions of what love is.
but words cannot Describe God's Love for us.

An Ren

weekend

2006-02-19T22:30:00.000+08:00

hello everyone! had a fun weekend. did loads of stuff.
saturday night was just saturday night, i went to the ACJC fun o rama in the day and saw lots of old frenz like bren, heath, robyn, frances, mike naidu etc etc. nice seeing them again sia. Dinner was i cant remember where.

Sunday!!
went to church, came home at the request of mum since she said i should study and guess what? the door to my house was LOCKED! wahaha. so i called mum and said," eh mum! how to study when i cant get to my books? the door is locked! "

studied for about an hour, then went to lunch with Roselyn Jackson who is a missionary and house guest for the weekend and goes tomorrow to i dunno where, Uncle Peck Lim and Auntie Kooi Lian, Dzung and her friend, mum and dad and there was ME! haha.

Lunch was at Vis A Vis at Chun tin road. had the set lunch. Leek soup, Steak for mains, and some chocolate sauce thing. it was fantastic.

After lunch we went to the bird park (Roslyn, Mum, Dad and I) we got there just in time for the 3pm show, i made sure they found their way to the ampitheatre and went off to the hawk walk to say hi to everyone. Shah Greeted me like a long lost friend and indeed i had not seen him for ages! the last visit i had, he was on leave. Everyone was on leave except for Nisham, Pei Yun, Shah and Soon. It was nice to see everyone again. Preperation for the Afternoon show seems much easier than for the morning show. It went really smoothly but unfortunately, the wild brahminy kite did not show itself. Pei Yun finishes her attachement next friday. it will be different when i next return and she is not there. but it was nice when she was around as she was always smiling from ear to ear.

Mum and Dad and Roselyn barely made it to the 4pm show and just managed to see Norman snatch a rubber snake out of the snatching pool. it was a fantastic snatch. I enjoyed myself very much at the show. the brahminy kites were cool, snatching meat mid air. really fast birds they are. very beautiful with a cream to white head and chest, a brownish red body and black feather tips on the wings, they are awesome birds when they soar.

After the show, Roselyn had a photo with Tupa, our malay fish owl. I had a few photos with him too. Owls are lovely birds with a fantastic personality, they sit so still on the fist and seem to be so wise. of all owls i think the most beautiful is probably the fish owl or the barn owl. then again, all owls are beautiful in their own way. anyway, if i end up working with birds of prey, it will not be good to have a favourite. haha.

Dinner was eaten at the SICC Bukit chinese restaurant. it was alright. the company was good!!

anyway, i'm zonked. i'm off to bed now. Good Night.

hope? FAT HOPE, not a chance in oblivion

2006-02-17T20:22:00.000+08:00

Dear diary,
its been a tiring week, and its friday night, i'm depressed, i wanna cry, i don't know.

i had my economics test today, it was alright even though i didnt know how to do some questions. I told dad he SEEMED to take it ok but well.. i guess he didnt. well. he had a look at my essay just now and was so super angry with me. i dunno what the heck i did but he started yelling and screaming at me after a while.

he seemed to be extremely angry i was listening to music and MSNing. sigh, its friday night, i've had a few tests, some went ok, some not so ok, but i studied hard for them and he wont believe me. when did i lie? what did i do wrong? what is wrong with me? i told the truth when i did the tests, if they were hard, easy, medium, completely don't know how to do etc.

i did ok for my bio test, practical on cutting up a sheep's heart, and graded assignment. lowest was 70%. maybe its just not good enough. i don't know!!!!! i don't see much around me. i just feel hurt and pain.

well... he asked me a question and i answered back. i dunno wat it was but he slammed me on my bathroom door with the handle on me poor backbone. and it hurt like.. i dunno.. a lot. i almost cried. he also slammed my poor ibm x31 on the floor. its a miracle its alive now.

i don't know what is going on in his mind. is he result focused? i want to know.

Frankly, i think i'm rather depressed now, i hardly see mum, dad seems to be nagging me, i hardly talk to my brother. whats next? my dog runs away? i don't know, i don't want to know. i just want to know,- Where is God? i want comfort and peace.

luve

Ren

...

2006-02-15T18:29:00.000+08:00

Today was kinda screwed.
Got back my bio test, scored 15.5/20. miracle aint it?
Dad doesn't seem that happy about it for some reason. in fact today, he seemed very agnry with me. i don't know what i did wrong. Sigh. i put my shoes on the table as i was gonna glue them back together and they got thrown at me. sigh. perhaps dad is not happy that i was not top kid. sigh. even if i'm no top, i can say with a clear concience that i studied hard for the test.

i wonder what will happen next.

tomorrow i've got a chemistry test. friday is economics. sigh. wonder wad else can go wrong huh.

Ren

2006-02-14T21:58:00.000+08:00

Happy valentine's day everyone!!

Winnie: I spilled the beans! take care & c u soon.

sailing at the weekend!

2006-02-12T22:16:00.000+08:00

Whoohoo! i sailed today and yesterday (saturday) great fun! not sailed since the start of the year.
i think i've found a nice weight for me to sail at. which i wont say. haha! saturday was moderate. nice little breeze and i happily moved along. i sailed fairly well and finished around 4th to 6th for each race on average. sunday was the highlight. i finished one race first. i started somewhere at the back, fought my way up till 6th for the up wind leg, rounded the bottom mark 3rd and finished 1st. the downwind helped me a lot. the big waves really help the boat to surf and make it somewhat easier to link waves. mind you, the waves were quite close to each other. haha!
off to homework now. bye bye!

thoughts

2006-02-07T23:12:00.000+08:00

i wonder what God is saying to me. today was trying. been questioning everything including my faith. and when i opened my bible the first thing i saw was Psalm 55. Perhaps its reassurance. wonder what his plan for me. Last year was very interesting. i wonder how this year will be. i wanna learn to surrender everything more fully, call on him at all times and gain more understanding and a closer walk with him.

2006-02-07T13:38:00.000+08:00

i'm not doing much now.. not really feeling.. just waiting, watching and trying to hear His voice and what He wants to tell me. What i do know is that i have to listen more and not let my feelings rule and i have to let go of everything and surrender it all to God... All this i find is very hard. but i'm learning i think.

I played games on sunday.. last time i'll play with Hui Ling for a long time.. gonna miss her when she goes back to uni. Seeing Hui Ling and her family at dinner at the Novena Peach Garden with Granddad. Sadly, Mums not free so she wont be coming along. Gguess i'll have to find my own way there.

oh yeah! Granddad got back yesterday from a preeching trip with Uncle Pong and Auntie Elsie.

For Mr Humphrey Soh

2006-02-03T19:44:00.000+08:00

Heyy! u should know this one *pink panther music needed her*

what happened?? well...

Sneak out of the house like a mouse with a dog

hahahahah!

quick entry b4 class starts

2006-02-02T08:59:00.000+08:00

i'm not thinking... i'm just waiting, dreaming and praying...

about time i started mugging.. bleagh.. didnt do so well for physics got 64%.. i might fail chem... aww well... its my worst subject but i guess i'll have to work harder at it.

off to class...

why oh why?

2006-02-01T19:46:00.000+08:00

dear diary...

today, school was nice.. had fun, played badminton *rather badly* but it was fun. was a little late for physics and Yee sze ling like screwed me over and scolded me? like hello!! i was only 2 minutes late? people have been 15 mins late and u dun do anything! get a life! or just stay in the machine.

anyway... today right infront of my own two eyes, my Dad went through everything on my desk including my notebook and drawers. i asked him," Why are you going through my stuff?"

"BECAUSE I HAVE THE RIGHT TO!" came the reply and an angry glare with fire in his eyes that would burn me alive if i said anymore. bleagh.. i mean like.. can i have some space? a little privacy will be nice! i'm not a 3 year old kid u know? ugh.. hate it.. my friends so far that i spoke to are not exactly helping either.. i thought i was growing up until today. i feel reduced, depressed, shrunken and pushed into a little bottle. my brother didnt have his bag or desk going through when he was my age. why me? is it because i'm the youngest child? come on la... equality please! its really horrible la. one bad thing after another...

wheres the eternal peace i felt yesterday and many times before? dunno la... sometimes i wish i could wake up and find it is all a dream. Where is the love i got from my family when i was still in primary school. i feel it much anymore. Mum comes home late, dad dun really spend much time with me or talk to me about interlectual topics. when i talked to him about the IRs, he was like *long pause* i think its a bad idea and little phrases as answers with long pauses in between. My brother is out a lot of the time and i don't even know how well he is doing in school.. aww well..

An Ren

fishing today

2006-01-31T21:39:00.000+08:00

today went to new place with Desmond, Sebastian and Lorna who is Sebastian's girlfriend who is a nice person.. then again.. all of us are nice people (:

well.. Everyone caught

A BIG, FAT ZERO! bleagh! first time this year..

I Personally donated 4 flies to neptune and lost a few more to fish.

what i do know is that the pieces lures and the Maria Chase SW are very good lures.. haha...

heyy daniel! thankx for dropping by.
to everyone who drops by, feel free to comment or tag (:
Nick!! I TOLD YOU SO! NOW GOT CAUGHT BY RANGER! DUN SAY I DIDNT WARN YOU! HUMPH!

An Ren

hello! quick post...

2006-01-30T13:13:00.000+08:00

hello everyone! happy new year!!

went fishing with guo rong on friday.. let the pics do the talking... we nailed about 25-30 barra in 2 hours. Elvis got 2 patins and a few barra on spoons.

i'm sorry

2006-01-18T21:46:00.000+08:00

I just heard that Matt "Quinny" Quinn has passed away... its left a hole in me as he was a great friend and flyfisher. sobx. thx for everything Quinny! i'll remember u. will prolly post sth more substantial when i'm myself again

Bye my friend

An Ren

2weeks

2006-01-14T08:37:00.000+08:00

its been 2 weeks since school started.. it seems like a mightly long time during the week but now i htink back, it seems like yesterday that i was at work and starting school. i've been quite lazy and not studied as much as i did last year. i think its time to start. the IGCSE exams are coming. School is not easy as i get loads of homework. i have yet to start on my weekend homework. its quite a lot. i am wondering how i'll survive with a he** of a lot more work.

I fished with Andrea, Elvis and Guo rong on tuesday and got my first 3 peacock bass for the year. all of them were on lures. Perhaps i am not that bad at lure fishing! i wont be fishing much for the rest of the year. perhaps maybe 3 times? it won't be easy but the time should be spent studying. I remember some of my buddies telling me to study more when the exams finally came around and get off forum. which is what i did.

anw.. off to study now.. bye bye!